19-11-2004
Twins Effect 2 is a science fiction wire-fu actioner, starring Jackie Chan, Jaycee Chan, and a Hong Kong super-pop duo called Twins, premiering this month in Beijing.There is nothing about this film that doesn't scream ridiculous over-the-top HK "Special."
But guess what?
(And this is priceless)
China is submitting it for consideration for next year's Oscars.
It's a country with 1.6 billion people, and their submission, a sequel to a superficial pop star ensemble, is something resembling Charlie's Angels?
This is like if that Dungeons & Dragons (2000) movie, with Jeremy Irons and Marlon Wayons, had boasted expectations of Oscar gold.
I've never seen Dungeons & Dragons--and I don't need to. Everything I needed to know was in that trailer where Irons clenches his fist dramatically and yells things in the general vicinity of "Get them!"
Would someone please tell me whether or not Thora Birch did Ghost World before or after D&D... because I'd sure like to know she's had a hit since falling off the Wayons wagon.
On a similar note...
I've heard Irons wanted to be paid a hefty sum to appear in Lolita (1997) because he didn't expect to get work for three years after its release. But I think D&D was probably far more damaging to his career prospects... I certainly hope he got a great, BIG check for that shit wad.
ANYWAY
we're talking about Twins Effect 2, and as I understand it, in the great tradition of HK films featuring canto-pop stars, the actors and their characters bear the same name (I think this is so the pop stars who participate in several movies a month can keep it all straight; something the fans themselves seem to have trouble doing).
We often feel, here in America, that the intelligence and maturity of our audience is being undermined by Hollywood and the American film industry--but what the hell is going on in China?
The original Twins Effect (Chin Gei Bin 2003) starring Charlene Choi, Gillian Chung, and former Gen-Y Cop Edison Chen (apparently, between raping dogs and siccing the triads on kids who mock his dye job, Chen found time to be in this film and behave as if he really, really doesn't want to be there--which he probably didn't), was the highest grossing film in Hong Kong in the Summer '03.
It's a comedy. It's an actioner. There are vampires, romance, and wire-fu.
Have they studied the foreign films that compete at the Academy Awards? It's never going to be a film like this, no matter how good it is. It's. Just. Not.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) which won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, was reportedly not well received in China.
They didn't understand the Wests' infatuation with it, and were flabbergasted when it was nominated.
So, Twins Effect 2 feels like they're saying, "Forget that Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon crap; this is the real kung-fu miracle."
But it is not the cinematic masterpiece it believes itself to be...
The world of Twins Effect is a lot like the Universe that Ultraviolet inhabits in that, being introduced to this altered reality is something you have to "deal" with.
I generally don't "deal" with it very well. Long explanations about alternate Universes where immortals, vampires and/or robots/aliens plague the Earth should be confined to live-action role-playing. I don't have much patience for them.
And in these alternate Universes, where magical beasts and unruly immortals reap havoc on a naive public, there's usually some secret society/special task force created with the sole purpose of combating them.
Enter the "elite" vampire hunters' league. Sort of like the secret mummy warriors Brendan Fraser encounters in The Mummy Returns (2001). Both are utterly useless, despite that they've been training their whole lives to combat the forces of evil that threaten humanity.
Then there's always some third party, completely unfamiliar with the afore mentioned "ultimate evil," who come in and get the job done when the secret evil-fighting society fails in their lifes' pursuit (usually some punk who could care less if the world falls into an all-consuming darkness, and humans become the slaves of evil alien/robot/demon overlords).
Action choreographer and co-director Donnie Yen (Iron Monkey) is undoubtedly very skilled at his craft, demonstrating excellent wire-fu capability (a talent that, like opening and closing doors with spinning kicks, only means anything in Hong Kong) but the action is thinly spread, and the romantic subplots and juvenile comedy slow the film down while allowing the pop stars too much room to exhibit acting talents they don't possess.
For the first twenty minutes, the plot focuses on Vampire Hunter Ekin Cheng, and the atmosphere of the film is serious, replete with high quality fight choreography.
HOWEVER
After the Twins show up, Ekin takes a back seat, and so does the action.
So, the Twins "effect" is that the rhythm of a somewhat successful action film is utterly destroyed by these two talentless female pop stars.
There should've been a "producers effect" between the first and second film, where if they thought the original had enough substance to warrant a sequel, the Twins should have been fired, and they should have picked up where the tone of the original was completely obliterated by the appearance of these two pop stars.
But I guess that's hard when "Twins" is in the title.
